Chapter 167

Chapter 167

Inquisitor Paris.

He was a fairly competent holy knight, but he was considered to lack the years of experience to serve as the Commander.

Nevertheless, the reason he rose to the position of Commander was that the previous Commander, Sir Durand, had died in a sudden accident.

-From now on, you are the Commander of the Order of Saint Marcias.

On the unprecedented day when a gate opened in the Imperial Palace, the Holy Emperor had clearly said those words to Paris.

As he said, Paris, who had been the Commander’s assistant, had no choice but to become the acting Commander and reorganize the disarrayed order. And soon after, under the leadership of Cardinal Benitus, the work of ferreting out the remnants of the Dark Cult followed.

As more and more cleanup work kept arising, he had conveniently solidified his position as the Commander. Naturally, the gazes of some senior and peer inquisitors were not favorable.

“If you know you’re in a position beyond your means, you should also know to decline it yourself.”

“I guess he thought it was an opportunity for promotion when the Commander passed away like that.”

Those who had been hands-off during the actual cleanup were now running their mouths. As a senior, he couldn’t even soothe the atmosphere, let alone incite division within the order.

But as the one who had become the Commander, it wasn’t something he could confide in anyone about. As he grew weary living through such creaking days, an unexpected decision came down from the Holy Council.

-The saintess is the [Apostle] of the Lord who will carry on the legacy of Saint Marcias. As she personally wishes to join the holy knightly order, she should be treated appropriately befitting her status.

When Paris first heard that instruction, he doubted his own ears. Suddenly inserting a 12-year-old child, not even a knight, as a deputy-level position?

Of course, it wasn’t nonsensical in principle.

The saint was a person promoted to a living saint. Although she had no real authority, in terms of the hierarchy of the Orthodox Church, she was treated almost on par with a cardinal. Considering her lack of practical experience, she was placed at the deputy level, but originally, she was practically a superior above the Commander.

But do things really work that way? If the saintess directly joins the knightly order, the story becomes completely different.

A deputy who trains alongside new squires, how absurd is that!

“Commander, this is truly an outrageous measure, no matter how you look at it! Deputy-level? Isn’t she just a little kid who has never even properly held a weapon before?” for new novels

“Isn’t she receiving too much special treatment just because she’s a member of the imperial family? The discipline of the knightly order will be shaken! Please do something about it, alright?”

When his subordinates suddenly clung to him, calling him Commander and complaining, Paris was a bit dumbfounded.

At the very least, this incident had definitely become an opportunity for the Order of Saint Marcias to solidify internally.

Anyway, he also thought this measure was somewhat unreasonable, so he sought out Cardinal Venitus directly to raise an objection.

But the next day, the cardinal, with a face that had become half its size, asked him this.

“You, do you happen to know that after Saint Aurelion received a divine revelation, he received various promotion benefits from the Orthodox Church to smoothly carry out his mission?”

Paris was puzzled. It was a story that didn’t even take up a few lines in the actual scriptures, ending with something like ‘the saintess received a divine revelation and led the people’.

“What about the incident hundreds of years ago when Priest Granius temporarily served as the Commander to engage in urgent negotiations with the Anatolian lords?”

“...Pardon?”

It was also the first time he had heard of it.

Then, Cardinal Benitus wrinkled his aged face even more gloomily and sighed.

“You don’t know? I didn’t know until today either! So what can we do? As of now, we have no justification to oppose His Majesty’s will. I don’t know where he found such historical records, but the evidence and precedents are too clear.”

“......”

“The more I think about it, the more frightening he is. Surely he couldn’t have memorized even the discontinued scriptures in their entirety, could he?”

If that strict old man had given up, there was truly no other way. Paris’ troubles deepened.

In the midst of that, an opinion arose within the knightly order to hold an initiation ceremony for the saint. The initiation ceremony was, in fact, closer to a bad habit of harshly treating new squires and enforcing discipline.

“If she experiences the initiation ceremony, she will surely be frightened and withdraw her admission, don’t you think?”

“But even squires who have trained to a certain extent often fall ill after going through the initiation ceremony. If we make the young saint endure such a harsh ordeal alone, what will people think of us?”

“Then let’s show her actual training under the pretext of a rehearsal. We’ll have her directly experience some of the training that new squires go through. With that much, there won’t be any significant backlash.”

That seemed like a plausible opinion. Could a young girl, who had been revered as a saint, insist on joining even after witnessing the brutal training of an actual knightly order?

So, Commander Paris summoned the saintess to the training ground the very next day.

“......?”

But somehow, the situation unfolded a bit differently than he had thought.

Even after seeing the inquisitors in full plate armor with a fierce aura, not just light armor, the saintess merely expressed admiration without much change in her expression.

“This is the public authority that Brother mentioned...!”

...Public authority?

Facing the saintesss eyes that were growing unexpectedly starry, Commander Paris felt an ominous premonition for some reason.

“It’s troubling if you’re this amazed, Sisle. This is just light physical training for holy knights.”

Prince Morres, wearing a somewhat nasty-looking smile, slyly interjected.

“The other holy knights must train at this intensity every day, right? Isn’t that so, Logan?”

Then, Prince Logan solemnly nodded.

“Ceaseless training is the duty of a knight. But indeed, among the five holy knightly orders, this place might be the best? Our Lilium Special Forces also prided ourselves on conducting high-intensity training, but after seeing the Order of Saint Marcias today, I feel we were too complacent. We need to reflect on that.”

“......”

Hearing that heartfelt admiration, the inquisitors exchanged glances with anxious hearts.

Hey, what do we do? Don’t tell me we’ll have to do this every day from now on?

However, unlike the two people who were purely admiring, Prince Morres had an evident expression of amusement on his face.

“Now, now, Sisle. Since you’re now a member of the holy knightly order, how about training with them until the end before the grand mass? They called you here, after all.”

For a moment, it seemed as if black devil horns overlapped above the prince’s head.

‘He’s deliberately instigating her, isn’t he?’

‘Hey! You devil!’

‘I’m here on my day off after being called in! Please spare me!’

As the inquisitors let out silent screams, the saintess tilted her head.

“But we’ve already learned weaponry and completed physical training, so what’s left?”

“Swordsmanship is left.”

“Swordsmanship?”

When Prince Morres pointed it out, the saint asked back, seemingly a bit confused.

“But I heard that the Order of Saint Marcias values life. So they don’t deliberately wield swords......”

Then, the inquisitors looked at each other with dumbfounded faces.

Did we say that? We’ve heard a lot about keeping them alive to bring them to the torture chamber, though?

“What are you talking about, Sisle? Of course, it’s natural for all holy knights to value life. But basically, as a knight of the Empire, one must learn the standard swordsmanship of the Imperial Knights. Where did you hear such a thing?”

At Logan’s question, Sisle answered with a bit of hesitation.

“Ah, um. He said swords are scary because they can kill people. So......”

Sisle had wholeheartedly believed Orden’s words. But she couldn’t bring herself to tattle on him for telling her that.

However, Logan listened to the story seriously and soon sternly rebuked Sisle.

“What a thoughtless mindset, Sisle. Surely you didn’t decide to join the holy knightly order with such a frivolous attitude? If a knight fears taking lives, who would ever think of you as a comrade and entrust their back to you?”

“Comrade......”

“Yes. Suppose, by any chance, you were facing off against a demon worshipper or a demon servant. While clearly witnessing them harming people, would you make the excuse that you couldn’t stop them because you didn’t learn how to kill?”

“......!”

“The sword of the person you hesitate to strike down might pierce the heart of the holy knight next to you in the next moment. Then, would you say you did your best to save lives in front of his bereaved family?”

At that strong rebuke, Sisle’s eyes quivered intensely.

However, the girl who had fought against slowly approaching death alone for several years was a strong child. Gazing at Logan with trembling hands clasped together, the girl soon had a firm, resolute look in her eyes.

She turned to Commander Paris, bowed her head respectfully, and said.

“I was foolish, Commander. From now on, I will immediately participate in all the training of the knightly order.”

“No, there’s no need for that......”

As Commander Paris dissuaded her while breaking out in cold sweat, the saint laughed gently aloud. It was a crystal-clear laughter that resonated transparently through the air.

“Yes. Today, you all went easy on me out of consideration, right? But from now on, I am also a member of Saint Marcias. From this moment on, I will share all the moments of hardship with my comrades. I am prepared!”

“......”

The faces of the inquisitors lying on the ground instantly turned gloomy.

As everyone in the training ground turned solemn, only one person merely turned his head away with a face reddened from holding back laughter.

‘Snicker snicker! Ah, this is driving me crazy!’

[...Lee Seongjin, you devil!]